Nebraska to list same-sex couples as parents on birth certificates

OMAHA, Nebraska, November 10, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Nebraska officials are scrambling to change birth certificates for children adopted by gay couples, but LGBT activists and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) say they need to do so faster.

According to The Associated Press, the state's health department's intention to change the certificates came to light in court documents last week. The ACLU and certain couples had sued the state over its pro-marriage law, saying they wanted the measure formally struck down after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision redefining marriage nationwide.

Certificates currently have two slots for the biological parents. Children taken in by same-sex couples, however, are always adopted by one of the parents because same-sex couples cannot independently create new human life.

A spokesperson did not reveal information on what the certificate would look like.

The certificate change is the result of an October court order that said the state must accede to LGBT activists' wishes. U.S. District Judge Joseph Batailon – whose decision against the state's marriage law a decade ago was overturned by a higher court – ruled that alleged inequality created by the state's legal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman could "be construed as encompassing the birth-certificate issue."

A spokesperson for the ACLU's Nebraska chapter said, "If they have decided to start listing 'parent' and 'parent' with equal dignity, that's great." However, "it does not change the fact that this case needs a ruling from the judge, and the state's efforts to avoid a ruling are really inexplicable."